Their own worst enemy - Sales Associate Formlabs Employee Review

2.0
Aug 13, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The only remaining smaller revenue, US-based, well-established 3D printing company that hasn't completely collapsed yet. If you get a job here, you will stay for the people, they are smart, passionate, and hardworking. You will make friends! Workplace snacks and catered lunches 3 days a week (even though they've been getting cheaper and lower quality). Parking on site. Health insurance is solid and free for most.

Cons

Pay is comically low vs. rest of industry. Sales comp structure needs some love & to be fleshed out more - it gets “fixed” every year but doesn’t get better. No 401k match despite there being a question asked every town hall and probably the most requested employee change next to pay. No attempt at sustainable / eco friendly product or messaging - what I was told from an Exec was that we are “leaving it up to employees” - this is a cop-out if managers aren’t allowed or are told to have their direct reports carve out time for this. Change comes from the top and it is clear they don’t care. This is a plastics company in the plastics industry with all the waste associated, despite what Execs want you to believe. Zero respect for the tenured people who had/have been there for half of Formlabs' existence or longer. These are people who helped grow the company and shape its culture. An employee was asked to postpone his already-booked sabbatical that kicked in after 6 years. He said no. Management move him to another team as retribution. Middle management has had zero training and is a mess which makes sense considering upper management gives them no support and frequently changes goal posts with no top-down messaging or goals of where the org is going as a whole - except "we want to be the best in 3D printing". Middle management are super micro managing: Camera on requirement during weekly scrums. If you miss an RTO day for being sick you have to “make it up” on a would-be WFH day. If you are at a trade show, that technically makes you out of the office. You are also expected to make up those days you missed by coming into the office on WFH days. RTO requirements: I joined for the flexibility, that has since changed. Some employees were cleared for fully remote work for unfair reasons while others were not. It is clear who management thinks is an important and who is not, and that is not a good feeling. This has become worse with even more micromanagement, now you basically have to clock in in-person. What was once a culture of trust and support has turned into a culture of squeezing everything they can out of fewer employees (since there are semi-annual layoffs). The “Path to Profitability” has caused the company to start looking at people like numbers: what is your daily input, how much you are contributing to the org, and “cutting the dead weight”. People can tell when they’re being looked at like numbers, this decreases morale & job security and increases day-to-day stress. Leadership says "We're still a startup" when justifying layoffs, constant re-orgs, lack of 401k match, small salaries, & asking their employees to do way more than their job titles for the same pay BUT at the same time "We've been around for 12 years and are a well-established company" when trying to justify their space in the market. CEO is a true Zuckerberg in all the wrong ways with zero EQ. Desperately tries to be like Elon, idolizing Tesla, Apple, and similar companies in the pursuit of being like them because that's what he thinks success is. Never stops to ask himself how he can be different.

Explore other reviews about Formlabs

5.0
May 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great products, friendly people. Supportive management. Good work life balance

Cons

minimal Holidays and "flexible" time off

4.0
Jul 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits and lunches were a plus

Cons

New management in MKE was tough.

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